Family Law Blog

Child Arrangements Orders can be a vital tool in helping separated families settle their domestic differences, and in helping children to enjoy stability. My ex-wife and I have a Child Arrangement Order that sees our 14-year-old daughter spending alternate...

Angela Killa, Associate Solicitor within the Family Law team, tackles the issue around planning Christmas arrangements for separated families. My ex partner and I split this year and I don't want our young daughter to get caught up...

Nobody enters into marriage lightly, but the ongoing case of Owens Vs Owens is likely to give even the most starry-eyed couples pause for thought. This case sees a woman who wants to divorce her husband of 40 years unable to do so, despite the fact that...

My seven year old daughter is currently in private school and my ex-husband and I had intended that she would attend the same fee-paying school until university. Fair provision was made for me in the divorce proceedings, but no specific allocation was made...

I am happy to be getting married next year - I have left it late in life, having dedicated myself to building a business portfolio. I would always want to do the right thing by my husband, but if we were to split I would worry about the...

Angela Killa, Associate Solicitor from the Family Law team here at JCP, shines a light on the process of dissolving a Civil Partnership. My partner and I have been in a Civil Partnership for two years and we have decided to split after some...

Meet Jill Bulteel, a Director and Head of Family in South East Wales for JCP Solicitors. A Senior Practitioner, Jill specialises in divorce, financial and care proceedings, and the Children’s Act. Jill is a member of the Law Society Children Panel, an...

Olympian Tom Daley and his husband Dustin Lance Black made a romantic announcement on Valentine’s Day this year – revealing the news that they are expecting a child, presumably via a surrogate. Surrogacy is an increasingly common option, both...

Angela Killa, Associate Solicitor within the Family Law team here at JCP Solicitors, tackles an issue around parental disputes over taking a child abroad to live. My ex-wife is considering taking a job in Germany, which would see her take our...

Sali Jackson-Thomas, a Director, Family law Expert and Head of Private Client at JCP Solicitors advises a couple on pursuing an amicable separation. My husband and I have decided to separate and while we have some issues we are keen to keep things as...

Angela Killa, from the Family Law team, tackles an issue around parental disputes over medical treatment for a child. My six-year-old daughter has hearing problems. My ex-husband and I cannot agree on whether she should have a procedure, under...

The engagement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has got the nation abuzz with excitement – and no doubt broken a few hopeful hearts too. The charming couple have much planning ahead of them for the wedding, with the big day likely to spread oodles of...

Angela Killa, a Solicitor in the Family Law team shares her advice regarding Christmas arrangements for separated families. "My ex partner and I split this year and I don't want our young daughter to get caught up in any disputes about who...

JCP Solicitors has boosted its expertise further by appointing a Conveyancing and Family Solicitor to its busy Pontypridd office. Carla Coulstock has joined JCP as an Associate Solicitor within Conveyancing, the second qualified appointment to its...

Divorce costs depend upon the particular case. In every case, there are Court fees, which are currently £550 for the filing of your petition. This includes the fee for applying for the decree absolute. Even if your divorce is relatively straightforward...

My 9-year-old daughter lives with my ex, who has remarried. My ex-wife and I had a recent row and she’s refusing to let me take our daughter abroad next month, as previously arranged. What can I do? Disputes such as these are stressful for all...

Angela Killa, from our Family Law team, tackles a common divorce issue where a couple are divorcing with recrimination on both sides. My 13-year-old daughter is becoming distant from me and my wife has said, in front of our child, that spending time with...

This month, Angela Killa, from the Family Law team at JCP Solicitors, tackles an issue around leaves of absence from school. We’re planning a family reunion in the US for a relative’s 70th birthday, so we need to travel on a particular date....

This month Matthew Wells, an Associate Solicitor who specialises in divorce, financial disputes and cohabitation agreements, tackles the issue of Pre Nups and the Farm Business. My parents and I are in a farming partnership and I’m planning to get...

This month Angela Killa, from the Family Law team at JCP Solicitors, shares her advice regarding the legal distinctions between marriage and civil partnerships. My partner has just proposed to me and we are very excited about our future together. We are in...

This month Angela Killa, based in our Carmarthen office, shares her advice regarding access to a child after allegations of an abusive partnership. "My ex-boyfriend has applied to the Court to see our daughter. He was abusive towards me, I’m...

Matthew Wells, a family lawyer from JCP Solicitors in Swansea, travelled to Parliament today to meet with local MP Carolyn Harris. Mr Wells was taking part in a major lobby of Parliament organised by family law organisation Resolution, who represent 6,500...

Christmas is, of course, a time of celebration, reflection upon the year gone by and the year ahead, and a time for family. For many of us it can also be fraught with extra stresses and pitfalls – not least for the *more than 500,000 step-families in...

JCP Solicitors has boosted its well-respected Family Law team in Carmarthen, with a new recruit to the firm. Angela Killa will be part of the busy Family Law team at JCP’s Carmarthen office, joining Head of the Team Sali Jackson-Thomas, Matthew Wells...

Matthew Wells, a solicitor in JCP's Family Law Team who specialises in divorce, financial disputes and cohabitation agreements, answers a question about Pre Nups.... I’m planning to get married at the end of next year. Without wanting...

A recent report from Citizens Advice (March 2016) shows that since funding for legal aid was reduced in 2013 many more people are now going to the family courts without a lawyer (as a litigant in person). The report shows that nine in ten litigants in person...

Karen Hart and John Hart started living together in 1983. They married in 1987 and had two children. Divorce proceedings were commenced in 2011. In 2015 Judge Wildblood ordered that she should receive £3.5 million. Mr Hart appealed this award. On 26...

In divorce proceedings, particularly when the parties do not instruct Solicitors, there is a misconception that the Decree Absolute brings an end to financial claims. That is not the case at all. Spouses and former spouses have rights to make financial...

This month Matthew Wells, an Associate Solicitor who specialises in divorce, financial disputes and cohabitation agreements, advises a grandparent on providing a legally secure home for her granddaughter. "My granddaughter has been living with me for...

Sali Jackson-Thomas has since 1996 been offering Family Mediation in Swansea. She has over this time helped many separating and divorcing couples from across South and South West Wales reach their own agreements about finances and child arrangements....

The percentage of marriages ending in divorce is approximately 42%. More people than ever are divorcing later in life. Frequently a party's pension can be the biggest asset in a marriage with available cash and property values decreasing. The usual way...

Matthew Wells, an Associate Solicitor in our Family Team, and a specialist in divorce, financial disputes and cohabitation agreements, tackles the issue of child maintenance responsibilities. "I am a single mother with a two-year-old son from a brief...

Matthew Wells, Family Solicitor, Resolution Specialist and expert in divorce, financial disputes and cohabitation agreements, highlights the issue of financial claims following a divorce. My wife was the petitioner in our divorce in 2008 and at that time...

A key member of JCP Solicitors’ Family Law team has now added to his expertise by qualifying as a Resolution Specialist. Matthew Wells, has been a Solicitor in the Family Law team with JCP since December 2013, and a member of Resolution since 2010. To...

If people going through divorce cannot reach agreement in relation to financial settlement then an application is made to the family court. There is a specific form for making the application known as “Form A”. Once that form is sent to the...

This month Matthew Wells, Family Solicitor and specialist in divorce, financial disputes and cohabitation agreements tackles the issue of Parental Responsibility. I have recently re-married and my husband would like to take on Parental...

This month Matthew Wells, an Associate Solicitor who specialises in divorce, financial disputes and cohabitation agreements tackles the issue of pre-nups and the farming business. My parents and I are in a farming partnership and I’m planning...

Whilst we do not like to think about it, the number of those suffering with Dementia and Alzheimer’s is on the increase. Also due to a more advanced health service we are more likely to survive an illness, such as a stroke and heart attack. ...

Last week the Shared Parental Leave Regulations 2014 came into force. This will enable employees who have babies due on or after 5 April 2015 to share up to one year’s leave with their partner. The Regulations will allow Mothers, or the primary carers...

I am still amazed by the number of divorce clients who are so fixated on the matrimonial home (which in these difficult economic times is not always as valuable as first perceived) that they almost completely disregard their spouse’s pension which in...

In the spirit of Valentine’s day, what is more romantic than saying....“I want to marry you for you, not your money, your inheritance, your house and fast car”? By entering into a pre-nuptial agreement you can say just that, whilst at the...

Dealing with a separation can be one of the most difficult situations that a person can face, but as Family Dispute Resolution Week (25-29th November) aims to show, the upset of family breakdown doesn’t have to become a case to battle out in courts. ...